Referee Memorandum

To: State Referee Administrators, State Youth Referee
Administrators, State Directors of Referee Instruction,
State Directors of Referee Assessment, National Referee
Instructors and Trainers, National Assessors, National
Referees

From: Julie Ilacqua, Managing
Director of Federation Services

Subject: Mass Confrontation

Date: March 14, 2003

The referee's ability to maintain
composure in the face of dissent from a player is magnified
when he becomes the focus of dissent and challenge
from several players simultaneously.
For the purpose of this guidance, a "mass confrontation" is
defined as the concerted actions of three or more players
from the same team who are disputing a decision while
surrounding the referee or hindering or forcing movement
by the referee. Such situations bring the game
into disrepute, are inherently intimidating, and create
a strongly negative public image.

The Laws of the Game provide
adequate tools to deal with dissent on an individual
level, but mass confrontations add a dangerous element
calling for special measures involving all members
of the officiating team. Instances of mass confrontation
are significant events that transcend the sum of the
individual acts of misconduct which the referee must
handle.

Referee

Attempt to assess the likelihood
of a mass confrontation and move out of the area where
it would probably occur.

Distinguish between those players
who are actively and aggressively increasing the tension
and those who, though physically nearby, are clearly
trying to reduce tension.

Pay particular attention to those
who instigate the confrontation, those who join it
from the immediate area, and those who move a considerable
distance in order to participate in the confrontation.

Consult with the assistant referees
and the fourth official before taking disciplinary
action.

Assess the appropriate punitive
measures individually and, if a player is to be sent
off, ensure that this occurs before moving on to other
players who are to be disciplined.

Ensure that all cards for misconduct
are displayed and recorded before play is restarted.

Assistant Referees

Both assistants move along the touchline
to a point as near as possible to the confrontation
and, if necessary, prepare to enter the field for a
better viewing position.

The nearer assistant should concentrate
fully on the confrontation and attempt to identify
the instigator(s) while the farther assistant concentrates
on players who join the confrontation from a distance.

The senior assistant (on the bench
side of the field) should additionally monitor persons
coming from the bench into the field to participate
in the confrontation, but this assistant’s primary
objective remains monitoring the confrontation itself.

After the confrontation has ended,
both assistants should be ready to provide information
to the referee regarding the identities of persons
they observed and the role each such person played
in the confrontation.

Fourth Official

The fourth official assists the
referee at all times.

The fourth official’s primary
task in a mass confrontation situation is to observe
and record the behavior of persons (substitutes and
team officials) in the technical areas.

After the confrontation has ended,
the fourth official should be ready to provide information
to the referee regarding the behavior of persons whom
he has observed. If any relevant behavior involved
violence and was not observed by either the referee
or the assistant referees, the fourth official must
be ready to include such observations in his report.

The referee’s game report must
list and describe separately any instances of mass confrontation
in addition to the actions the referee took to handle individual
misconduct that may have been part of the confrontation. Individual
misconduct is clearly the responsibility of the referee
and must be handled during the match in accordance with
standard procedures. Competition authorities reserve
the right to administer supplementary discipline to players
involved in mass confrontations who may have escaped the
attention of the officiating team.

Officials should not rely on the right
of any competition authority in this regard but instead
make every effort to properly administer justice for
misconduct at the time it occurs.